King Egg
Moxie Bread Co., 641 Main St., Louisville, moxiebreadco.com
What can’t Moxie Bread Co. do? Every time we step into the Main Street Louisville shop, not only is the place packed with patrons, it’s packed with unique bread and pastry creations. We opted for the latest edition of their King Egg, a flakey pastry stuffed with egg, pungent and airy cheese, fruity peppers and robust herbs. Each bite is buttery and crunchy, and the egg brings deep umami. The pastry packs a punch — you won’t be hungry again for most of the day. Best of all, the components of the King Egg change often, so you can eat it weekly and still be surprised. $6.25.
Skewers
The Wolf’s Tailor, 4058 Tejon St., Denver, thewolfstailor.com
The Labor Day opening of The Wolf’s Tailor in Sunnyside marked renowned Boulder chef (of Basta) Kelly Whitaker’s first foray into Denver. The menu mixes Whitaker’s culinary influences of Californian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese cuisine to create a wholly unique variety of choices from small to large plates to share. The standout of our meal was the binchotan-grilled skewers. The use of the Japanese charcoal gave both the beef and chicken meat unreal flavor. Add a bone marrow butter to the beef and the meat was both succulent and satisfying. The chicken was perfectly charred leaving us wanting more. Let’s just say umami was mentioned during our meal more than once, as was the fact that the experience was worth the trip. $5 each.
Bougatsa
Kalita Grill, 2426 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, kalitagrill.com
We’ve written before about our love of the family-owned, fast, casual, delicious Kalita Grill — tucked inside the shopping center at 28th St. and Arapahoe Ave. — and nothing’s changed. Well, maybe one thing has changed: Kalita has added bougatsa to its menu. This Greek breakfast pastry will ruin you for other breakfast treats, with a creamy custard filling wrapped in crispy phyllo, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Warm and creamy, buttery and lightly sweet with a delicate crunch from the phyllo, its great for sharing, but you probably won’t want to. $3.99.
Pumpkin Ale
Upslope Brewing Company, 1898 S. Flatiron Court, Boulder; 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Boulder; upslopebrewing.com
Upslope capitalizes on its penchant to deliver best-in-class, no-frills beer with its pumpkin ale. To make it, Upslope marry organic baby bear pumpkins with malt and hops. The custom six-spice blend is the star — not overwhelmingly sweet or robust, the flavors mellow out like an expertly made pumpkin pie. On the palate, Upslope’s pumpkin ale is crisp and crunchy, but that spice blend and the pumpkins make your soul feel complete. And at 7.7 percent alcohol by volume, the pumpkin ale is surprisingly sluggable. But don’t take our word for it — the pumpkin ale took home a Great American Beer Festival gold medal in 2011. $5.
